In the boating industry, it is often desirable to attach accessories to a boat. For example, it is sometimes desirable to attach one or more of a ladder, a fishing rod holder, a grill, a trolling motor, a kicker motor, an electronic device, a table, a wakeboard tower, a canoe outrigger, a ski and wakeboard rack, a fishing downrigger, a rocket-type rod holder, a T-top style top, a diving tank holder, an umbrella, or a camera mount. In particular, it is often desirable to attach these accessories to or near the gunnel or some other structural portion of a boat including but not limited to the floor, bow, or stern of the boat.
Conventional ways of attaching these accessories to a boat include permanently drilling through the structural portion and permanently attaching the accessory thereto. Drilling of this type, however, detracts from the otherwise pleasant aesthetic appearance of the boat and/or may affect the structural integrity of the structural portion of the boat as a whole. Further, once an accessory is permanently attached, it cannot be easily removed or hidden from view, thereby affecting the overall aesthetic appearance of the boat itself. In addition to the above, permanently attaching these accessories, for example, to the gunnel of the boat, makes that portion of the gunnel unavailable for other uses or other attachments. In addition, in such case, the pre-defined length and shape of the gunnel limits the number of attachments that can be attached to the boat.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to have an apparatus and related method to address this and other problems associated with the attachment of accessories to a boat.